Violence erupts after military kills Mexico’s top cartel kingpin

Mexico’s most powerful cartel leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, was killed in a military raid Sunday, sparking widespread retaliatory violence. President Claudia Sheinbaum has been under mounting pressure from Washington to intensify her offensive against drug cartels blamed for producing and smuggling drugs, particularly the synthetic opioid fentanyl, across the border to the US.

Oseguera, 60, the mastermind of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) died in custody after being injured in a military operation by Mexican special forces in the town of Tapalpa on Mexico’s Pacific coast in Jalisco state, according to Mexico’s defense ministry. His corpse arrived in Mexico City on Sunday afternoon in a heavily guarded convoy of National Guard troops.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on social media that the United States provided intelligence support. Leavitt added that the Trump administration “commends and thanks the Mexican military for their cooperation and successful execution of this operation”. After reports of El Mencho’s death, cartel henchmen blockaded highways with burning cars, and torched businesses in more than a half a dozen states, paralysing parts of the country.

No civilian deaths have been reported.

Death leaves power vacuum

It’s not clear who will succeed Oseguera Cervantes, or if any one person can. The Jalisco cartel has a presence in at least 21 of Mexico’s 32 states and is active in almost all of the United States, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration. It is also a global organisation, and the loss of its leader could be felt well beyond Mexico.

25 National Guard troops dead

Mexico Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch on Monday said 25 members of the National Guard were killed in Jalisco in six separate attacks after the killing of Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes.

Also killed were a prison guard, an agent from the state prosecutor’s office and a woman whom Garcia Harfuch did not identify. He also said some 30 criminal suspects were killed in Jalisco, and four others were killed in Michoacan.